H.R.2811 tries to reverse many of the IRA's reforms to the oil and gas leasing program and paves the way for companies to lock up public lands.

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** House passes massive giveaway to oil and gas companies
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Friday, April 28, 2023
Oil and gas development in Wyoming, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

Unable to win support in the Senate for their misguided policies, fossil fuel allies in the House have resorted to trying to use the debt limit to pass their massive giveaway to oil and gas companies. Late on Wednesday, the House narrowly passed H.R.2811 ([link removed]) which would lift the debt limit, avoiding the economic catastrophe that would ensue if the U.S. defaults on its debt payments, but it also includes a slew of unrelated priorities on various energy and natural resource topics. Most of these provisions are recycled from H.R.1 ([link removed]) , the House leadership's marquee energy package which passed the House earlier this spring and went nowhere in the Senate.

Among other things, H.R.2811 (like H.R.1 before it) once again tries to reverse many of the Inflation Reduction Act’s reforms to the onshore oil and gas leasing program: the bill would return royalty rates, minimum bids, and rental rates to the outdated rates that were put in place in 1920; eliminate the fees companies pay to nominate land for leasing; restore noncompetitive leasing, letting companies lock up public land for just $1.50 an acre; and impose a per-page fee for exercising the right to protest lease sales. The bill would also require quarterly lease sales to be held in a variety of states, including several Western states, and remove the Interior Secretary's authority to determine which lands are eligible for oil and gas leasing. This provision would pave the way for companies—or anyone—to lock up public lands by nominating and leasing parcels regardless of their oil and gas production potential or any other values and uses of the land

Like H.R.1 before it, H.R.2811 is almost certain to die immediately in the Senate, and President Joe Biden has said he will veto it ([link removed]) if it gets to his desk. Unlike the death of H.R.1, however, failure to increase the debt limit will have drastic impacts for the American economy. Tying the debt limit to unpopular and unpassable policies demonstrates that fossil fuel allies in the House care only about giveaways to oil and gas companies and are unserious about legislating in the best interests of the American people.
Quick hits


** House debt limit 'stunt' focuses more on energy policy than reducing debt
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New York Times ([link removed]) | Reuters ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Nevadans, conservationists criticize Cortez Masto's mine waste dumping bill
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Las Vegas Sun ([link removed]) | Nevada Current ([link removed]) [editorial]


** Colorado leaders rally against railway project that would carry crude oil along Colorado River
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CPR News ([link removed])


** In the game of musical mines, environmental damage takes a back seat
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ProPublica ([link removed])


** A new rush to find gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills
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New York Times ([link removed])


** Film takes viewers on trip down Dolores River, shows the challenge of keeping it flowing
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Next 9News ([link removed])


** Opinion: The act of getting involved in public land decisions
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed])


** Only ewes can prevent forest fires
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Record-Courier ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Just when we think we got a small win, the industry calls in a favor for those donations. This move by Senator Cortez Masto is disappointing; we thought she was an ally of the environment.”
—Fermina Stevens, Western Shoshone Defense Project director, Nevada Current ([link removed])
Picture this


** @usinterior ([link removed])
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The views at @blackcanyonnps ([link removed]) in Colorado are epic. The Black Canyon is incredibly deep and sheer, with plunging cliffs, soaring buttresses and a thundering river that rushes past the narrow walls exposing some of the oldest rocks in North America, dating back nearly two billion years.

The Painted Wall (pictured) is the highest cliff in Colorado and one of the most dramatic sights in the park. For comparison, four Washington Monuments stacked on top of each would be roughly the same height as the wall.

Photo by Eric Ritchie

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